When assembly semiconductor components, semiconductor chips, or dies, are typically attached to a carrier, such as a leadframe, using some type of soldering process (e.g. using soft solder, solder paste, diffusion solder). During such soldering processes, the semiconductor chips are typically pressed onto a liquid solder material (or other bonding material) placed on the carrier, resulting in solder material being squeezed out from the interstices between the semiconductor chips and the carrier about the perimeter of the chips. Due to adhesion forces, the squeezed-out solder material tends to travel or creep up the sidewalls of the chips, such as from the chip backside toward the chip front side. Chemicals from the solder material (e.g. metals, flux agents) can diffuse into and contaminate the bulk semiconductor material on the chip sidewalls, and can lead to degradation and failure of active regions of the semiconductor chip adjacent to the sidewalls.
To eliminate such solder creepage, conventional die attach processes attempt to optimize process windows, wherein the amount of solder and the amount of force applied to the chip are each minimized. However, such process windows are narrow and can fluctuate based on process conditions and, as a result, fail to solder creepage.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the teachings of the present disclosure.